They came at us to start, we settled in and shut them down on D leading to transition opportunities in last 23:50 of the game. The nominal starting lineup of Newton-Hawkins-Jackson-Karaban-Sanogo was +7 over 7 possessions, so looking great.
Check here for a summary of how I'm charting the players.
Name (Positive/Negative, Net)
Newton - 18/3 +15 - This was one of the more surprising re-watches. Newton got 2 fouls somewhat quickly in 1st half. 2nd half he was absolutely spraying the ball all over the court for wide open shots. Credited 4 assists, 0 turnovers, had a bunch of other potential ones and hockey assists in only 21 min. Also as is tradition he drew a couple fouls and got a couple And-1s. Solid defense. On the season he has more FTA than FGA.
Alleyne - 5/8 -3 - Somewhat rough game for Alleyne despite our big win. After last week's sensational D, this week he was burned a couple times, had a bunch of fouls. He shot okay, which is his role, but only 1 rebound and 1 assist,
Hawkins - 18/8 +10 - After a couple mistakes on both ends in the first few minutes, Hawkins settled in and started dominating on both ends. For as well as he shot, he probably missed his 2 widest open 3s. In the 2nd half especially got a couple steals alongside Jackson and just generally caused mayhem. Had a couple times where he moved his feet and prevented drives and stalled out their offense. Decent passing, too. Shot is pure. Last year it felt like he missed every open backbreaker transition 3, and he hit three today including that big one today towards the end of 1st half.
Karaban - 18/5 +13 - Karaban was 1 of the 2 guys playing well in the beginning, mostly with his passing. Last 25 minutes, he rebounded well (several in traffic), made a couple shots, defended well. Typical Karaban game, but this time he made shots, too.
Sanogo - 21/6 +15 MVP - 15/6 in 1H, basically a game's worth of play in a half. Perfect 6/0 in 2nd half in modest time (didn't play last 7:30). Started to dominate middle of 1st half when we took back the lead originally. He's just an expert at sealing defenders in post and played strong defense for much of today's game as well. 24 points on 12 shots. 8/8 from FT line in this one.
Diarra - 8/7 +1 - Not a great game. Defensively got abused a few times by their guard Thomas. Did some of his best work in garbage time and against their lackluster press. No points, 3 assists to 3 turnovers. On the season has a 30% assist rate (great!) and 30% turnover rate (terrible).
Calcaterra - 7/4 +3 - Totally fine bench work. Didn't make any 3's, but had a couple buckets in transition, had a few nice rebounds, and passing was pretty good. Only 1 turnover is a season low. Mostly held up on defense.
Jackson - 14/4 +10 - The spark that we needed. Couple nice entry passes, a few tiger-like steals, a couple blocks, great hustle. 5 credited assists in 20 min plus at least 4 hockey assists/prime shots missed.
Clingan - 6/8 -2 - Rough go of it today for Clingan. They were attacking his dribble and hands a bunch today with undersized bigs. Playing him very physical on the rebounds, he got held on a few for sure with no calls. He got switched onto a small guy once and got stripped. That has to be a dunk or a foul.
Check here for a summary of how I'm charting the players.
Name (Positive/Negative, Net)
Newton - 18/3 +15 - This was one of the more surprising re-watches. Newton got 2 fouls somewhat quickly in 1st half. 2nd half he was absolutely spraying the ball all over the court for wide open shots. Credited 4 assists, 0 turnovers, had a bunch of other potential ones and hockey assists in only 21 min. Also as is tradition he drew a couple fouls and got a couple And-1s. Solid defense. On the season he has more FTA than FGA.
Alleyne - 5/8 -3 - Somewhat rough game for Alleyne despite our big win. After last week's sensational D, this week he was burned a couple times, had a bunch of fouls. He shot okay, which is his role, but only 1 rebound and 1 assist,
Hawkins - 18/8 +10 - After a couple mistakes on both ends in the first few minutes, Hawkins settled in and started dominating on both ends. For as well as he shot, he probably missed his 2 widest open 3s. In the 2nd half especially got a couple steals alongside Jackson and just generally caused mayhem. Had a couple times where he moved his feet and prevented drives and stalled out their offense. Decent passing, too. Shot is pure. Last year it felt like he missed every open backbreaker transition 3, and he hit three today including that big one today towards the end of 1st half.
Karaban - 18/5 +13 - Karaban was 1 of the 2 guys playing well in the beginning, mostly with his passing. Last 25 minutes, he rebounded well (several in traffic), made a couple shots, defended well. Typical Karaban game, but this time he made shots, too.
Sanogo - 21/6 +15 MVP - 15/6 in 1H, basically a game's worth of play in a half. Perfect 6/0 in 2nd half in modest time (didn't play last 7:30). Started to dominate middle of 1st half when we took back the lead originally. He's just an expert at sealing defenders in post and played strong defense for much of today's game as well. 24 points on 12 shots. 8/8 from FT line in this one.
Diarra - 8/7 +1 - Not a great game. Defensively got abused a few times by their guard Thomas. Did some of his best work in garbage time and against their lackluster press. No points, 3 assists to 3 turnovers. On the season has a 30% assist rate (great!) and 30% turnover rate (terrible).
Calcaterra - 7/4 +3 - Totally fine bench work. Didn't make any 3's, but had a couple buckets in transition, had a few nice rebounds, and passing was pretty good. Only 1 turnover is a season low. Mostly held up on defense.
Jackson - 14/4 +10 - The spark that we needed. Couple nice entry passes, a few tiger-like steals, a couple blocks, great hustle. 5 credited assists in 20 min plus at least 4 hockey assists/prime shots missed.
Clingan - 6/8 -2 - Rough go of it today for Clingan. They were attacking his dribble and hands a bunch today with undersized bigs. Playing him very physical on the rebounds, he got held on a few for sure with no calls. He got switched onto a small guy once and got stripped. That has to be a dunk or a foul.
